Causality
by Spiletta42
Summary: An episode tag for Departure, featuring the friendship between Liz and Kyle. Roswell. DramaVignette. Gen. 966 words.  Written April 2007.


Causality by Spiletta42

Disclaimer: Intellectual property snuck out of the vault at Regency Entertainment.

Roswell (Gen)

Rating: T™©

Pairings: Liz & Kyle friendship, with mentions of canon 'ships.

Spoilers: Through the end of season two, specifically _The End Of The World_, _Cry Your Name_, _Off The Menu_, and _The Departure_. If you haven't seen _Roswell_, I recommend it. All three seasons are available on DVD.

A/N: This is something that just sort of spins around in my head every time I watch season 2. This may or may not end up as part of something bigger.

**Causality**

The doorbell rang, and Kyle Valenti dropped the box in his hands onto the bed. At this point, he considered any break in this activity welcome. Even when he opened the door to find Liz Parker brushing away tears with the back of her hand. "Is something -- "

"I just really need to talk to someone."

He stepped back and swung the door open. "Sure, of course."

She perched at the edge of the couch and stared down at a bit of tissue in her hand, twisting it nervously. "Remember the time we didn't sleep together?"

Under different circumstances, he might have made a joke, but Liz looked even worse than he felt, and that was saying something. "Do you want me to tell Max that -- "

"No," she said quickly. "He knows that we didn't, but he can't ever know why. It's important."

"That's easy." Kyle sank down on the couch beside her. "I don't even know why."

"That's why I'm here," Liz said. "To tell you why. I need to talk to someone, and I can't tell Max, and I can't talk to Maria about this."

Kyle waited for her to say more, but she clammed up and started tearing apart her tissue, one tiny bit at a time. "Liz?"

"I'm sorry, Kyle, I'm just really not sure where to start, or even if it's fair to come to you with this at all."

"Forget fair. You obviously need to talk to someone, and for some reason that someone appears to be me. So spill."

"The granalith can travel in time." Liz met his gaze then, and he could see the enormity of what she'd said written on her face, but he missed the significance himself.

"But the granalith's gone. It went bursting out of the cliffs and spun off to planet Vulcan or whatever. That is what we saw, right?"

She nodded.

"So why does it matter what it can do?"

"It matters . . . because of what I did."

He could hear the strain in her soft voice, and tears formed in her eyes again. He reached over and laid a hand on her arm. "It's okay, Liz."

"No," she said. "It's not. It's because of what I did that Alex is dead."

Kyle shook his head and repeated the words that had so recently shattered his world. "Tess killed Alex."

"And I'm the reason she was still here. If I hadn't -- she would have left town. Future Max said that Alex danced at our wedding. And he couldn't do that if he died."

"Wait, hold up a second. Are you telling me that you've been to the future?"

She shook her head. "No. I only know what Max told me. Future Max, not my Max. He used the granalith to come back in time, to see me. To tell me that I had to break up with him -- my Max -- or the world would end."

Kyle nodded. "Dramatic."

Liz stared down at her shredded bits of tissue, and twisted one of the larger pieces into a knot. "But maybe I should have just left things to happen naturally, and because I didn't, Alex is dead. I didn't put it all together before, because I didn't have the facts before. But now that I have the facts, I don't know how to just _live_ with this."

"Start again," Kyle said. "What are the facts?"

"Future Max said that because he loved me, Tess got jealous and left. And that made them weaker, because they needed her power, and that's the reason their enemies beat them in the future. So he said I had to make him fall out of love with me. I had to hurt him somehow."

"Oh . . . so that's why we . . . "

She nodded.

"Ironic," Kyle said. "Seeing as Tess was off making deals with their enemies all along, and she was ready to turn Max over to them."

"So you see why I can't go to Max with this," Liz said.

"No, actually I don't."

"It's a physics thing," Liz said. "Something about direct contact between timelines. I don't understand, which is why I can't take the risk, but Future Max said that Present Day Max could never know he'd been here, or the results could be catastrophic."

"Again with the drama." Kyle sighed. "Fun guy, this Future Max."

"He'd just watched all of the people he cared about die."

"Okay, fair enough. So what's bothering you specifically is that if Tess had left town, maybe she wouldn't have taken time out to kill Alex?"

"I know she didn't," Liz said. "In that other timeline, Alex came to my wedding. Future Max mentioned it, and I'd forgotten all about that detail until last night."

"I always knew the space-time continuum would come into it eventually," he said. "So you want to go back in time and save Alex."

"The granalith's gone. But if I ever had the chance . . . " She nodded slowly. "I'd have to, wouldn't I?"

"There's the chance you could make things worse." He watched her face. "But if you ever do get the chance, I'll help you. You have my word."

"Thank you."

Suddenly he had Liz Parker in his arms, hugging him so hard that she'd probably leave bruises. He rubbed her back gently.

When she pulled back, she smiled for the first time. "You're a great friend, Kyle."

"Yeah," he said. "That's what all the girls say."

"Would you like some help with that?" She nodded towards the boxes in his bedroom door.

"You know what?" Kyle said. "I think I would."

Packing up the stuff Tess had left behind hurt a little less, with the help of a friend.

_Roswell™©_ and related properties exist as Registered Trademarks of Regency Entertainment. No copyright infringement intended. No profits made here. © Spiletta42, April 2007.


End file.
